J.D. SALINGERand The Catcher in the Rye

His Life

• Born 1919 in New York City• Jewish father and Irish Catholic Mother• Attended Valley Forge Military Academy in

Pennsylvania. (Pencey Prep is partly based on his memory of VFMA)

• In 1932, his family, after living in several different apartments in fashionable upper Manhattan, moved to a building located at the corner of Park Avenue and East Ninety-First Street.

His Life• It was in this section of New York that

Salinger was to locate the apartment of the Caulfields in The Catcher in the Rye

• Served 5 tours in Army during WWII in 4th

infantry division which experienced heaviest combat of the war including the D Day invasion

• Was hospitalized for combat stress

His Life

• While attending Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Salinger was called "the worst English student in the history of the College" by one of his professors

• In 1945, Salinger's first marriage to a French woman he met while hospitalized for a nervous condition ended in divorce

His Life• He was married for a second time from

1955 to 1967 to Claire Douglas with whom he had two children

• In the late 1950’s He retreated from New York to Cornish, New Hampshire where he continued to write novels but did not publish them, refused to grant interviews or engage in public speaking

His Life

• Salinger has tried since to escape public exposure and attention as much as possible ("A writer's feelings of anonymity-obscurity are the second most valuable property on loan to him").

• He continues to refuse to grant interviews or to license his works for film.

His Work• In 1940, he published his first story and

continued providing stories for such magazines as Colliers and The New Yorker throughout the 40's.

• From 1940 to 1953, he published thirteen short stories and one novel, The Catcher in the Rye (1951).

• Quite successful; A Perfect Day for Bananafish stands out as the most popular of his early works.

His Work

• Salinger later published Fanny and Zooey(1961) and Raise High the Roof-Beam,Carpenters and Seymour -- An Introduction, the latter two appearing together in 1963) as well as other short stories (collected in the book Nine Stories).

The Catcher in the Rye

• The Catcher in the Rye, his first and most famous novel, was published in 1951 and was originally unpopular with critics, but later gained admiration from readers and critics alike.

• The book is narrated by the rebellious, immature, but insightful teenager Holden Caulfield.

The Catcher in the Rye

• Driven by the nuanced, contradictory character of Holden, the plot is surprisingly quite simple and straightforward.

• The book became famous for Salinger's extensive and exceptional eye for subtle complexity, detail, and description, and for the depressing and desperate atmosphere of New York City.

The Catcher in the Rye• Although never confirmed by Salinger

himself, several of the events in the novel are semi-autobiographical

• It is also notable for its portrayal of several prominent themes in American Literature

• Because of its frank use of colloquial language and Holden’s delinquent behavior it has been on the ALA list of Banned/Challenged books every year records have been kept.

1950-1959

• The end of World War II brought thousands of young servicemen back to America to pick up their lives and start new families in new homes with new jobs. With an energy never before experienced

• American industry expanded to meet peacetime needs. Americans began buying goods not available during the war, which created corporate expansion and jobs. Growth was everywhere. The baby boom was underway...

1950 - 1959• America had just begun her recovery from World

War II, when suddenly the Korean Conflict developed

• The USSR became a major enemy in the Cold War. Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to know that Communists had infiltrated the United States government at the highest levels

• Americans were feeling a sense of national anxiety. Was America the greatest country in the world? Was life in America the best it had ever been?

1950 - 1959• As the decade passed, literature reflected the

conflict of self-satisfaction with 50's Happy Days and cultural self-doubt about conformity and the true worth of American values

• During the fifties, American education underwent dramatic and, for some, world shattering changes

• In 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren and other members of the Supreme Court wrote in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that separate facilities for blacks did not make those facilities equal according to the Constitution. Integration was begun across the nation

1950 - 1959

• Another crisis in education was uncovered by critics who claimed that the American educational system was not doing its job and would lose ground to communist Russia

• Perhaps one of the things which most characterizes the 1950's was the strong element of conservatism and anticommunist feeling which ran throughout much of society

1950 - 1959

• One of the best indicators of the conservative frame of mind was the addition of the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. Religion was seen as an indicator of anti-communism

• Fifties clothing was conservative. Men wore gray flannel suits and women wore dresses with pinched in waists and high heels

1950 - 1959

• Families worked together, played together and vacationed together at family themed entertainment areas like national parks and the new Disneyland..

• Gender roles were strongly held, girls played with Barbie dolls and DaleEvans gear, boys with Roy Rogers and Davy Crockett paraphernalia

1950 - 1959

• Drive-in movies became popular for families and teens

• Cars were seen as an indicator of prosperity and cool-ness

• Highways were built to take people quickly from one place to another, by-passing small towns and helping to create central marketing areas or shopping malls

1950 - 1959• Population: 151,684,000 (U.S. Dept. of

Commerce,Bureau of the Census)*• Unemployed: 3,288,000• Life expectancy: Women 71.1, men 65.6• Car Sales: 6,665,800• Average Salary: $2,992• Labor Force male/female: 5/2• Cost of a loaf of bread: $0.14• Bomb shelter plans, like the government

pamphlet You Can Survive, become widely available